Illumination systems provide a region or field of illumination that may be used for a variety of purposes. The illuminated region may be used to provide visual light to allow a user to perform tasks or designate a particular location for others. For example, a headlamp is an illumination system which is commonly used to visibly illuminate a region in front of a user for purposes of walking at night. Likewise, a flashlight is a handheld illumination system which illuminates a region for a variety of purposes. Both headlamps and flashlights are sized to be portable to allow users to bring them to a variety of locations.
Portable articles containing enclosed interior regions include bags, backpacks, luggage, tents, clothing, etc. One of the problems associated with performing tasks within the enclosed interior regions of these portable articles is the lack of visible light. For example, the interior of a bag may be visibly dark, thereby preventing a user from identifying and/or manipulating the contents of the interior region. Conventional portable illumination systems are not always available and often fail to properly illuminate the interior enclosed region in a manner that also facilitates effective operation. For example, a flashlight or headlamp may be located within the visibly dark enclosed internal region of backpack. Likewise, portable illumination systems are used on the exterior of portable articles for a variety of reasons including increasing visibility and/or signaling. For example, urban cyclists often attach illumination devices to the external region of a backpack to increase their visibility to motorists at night.
Attempts have been made to adapt existing portable illumination systems for use in illuminating either the exterior or interior region of an article. For example, a headlamp or light wand may be directly attached to the exterior or internal surface of a portable article to facilitate direct illumination of the corresponding region. Unfortunately, this direct coupling scheme fails to provide a system that both illuminates the necessary region and facilitates efficient user operation. For example, directly coupling a headlamp to the interior region of a backpack may provide the proper illuminated region but may not be accessible for a user to initially turn on in a dark environment. Likewise, directly coupling a light wand to the exterior of a tent may be externally accessible for switching on and off, but is paradoxically not able to illuminate the interior region of the tent. Various complex user operation switching systems are also ineffective because they diminish the portability and simplicity of both the illumination system and the article to be illuminated.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a selectively configurable interior and/or exterior portable article illumination system.